Why I'm leaving the Republican party - The Republicans are now the party of situational ethics. Opinion piece in The Atlantic

There is an excellent opinion piece in The Atlantic put up just a few hours ago by a disillusioned republician who sees little to zero hope for the republician party returning to anything moderate post Trump. You don't need to agree with this now independents whole political outlook and philosophy to find this a worthwhile read.

by Anonymous

reply 40

10/13/2018

Just to add its the supreme Court appointment of Kavanaugh and all of the political hypocrisy in the run up to it that is the straw that broke the camels back. He basically thinks the party is now without principle and has no moral purpose to its desire for power. Definitely worth a read.

by Anonymous

reply 1

10/07/2018

Some times I disagree with Tom Nichols, but not often.

Best line of the piece - Small things sometimes matter, and Collins is among the smallest of things in the political world. !!!!

by Anonymous

reply 2

10/07/2018

It was a brilliant put down of the awful and fake Susan Collins! [R2]

by Anonymous

reply 3

10/07/2018

Most of you would do him

by Anonymous

reply 4

10/07/2018

And great piece, thanks for sharing OP

I'd vote for him.

Best line: "Congressional Republicans now act like a parliamentary party facing the constant threat of a vote of no-confidence."

by Anonymous

reply 5

10/07/2018

just fuck off asshole, dems hate you, as do the rethugs. go away please no one gives a shit

by Anonymous

reply 6

10/07/2018

He can join the republican lite party.

by Anonymous

reply 7

10/07/2018

Only an Independent is of stable mind

by Anonymous

reply 8

10/07/2018

Republicans are the party of NO ethics, situational or not.

by Anonymous

reply 9

10/07/2018

TLTR

by Anonymous

reply 10

10/07/2018

So he just figured this out???

Wow. I guess Republicans are dumb.

by Anonymous

reply 11

10/07/2018

The Republican Party has a lot of fake Republicans. It's kind of a catch-all for people who are sure they are not Democrats. Senators Flake and Sasse have run as Republicans just to get elected as the nominee of a major party, even though their beliefs don't fit with either party. We probably need some third parties to handle the people who neither fish nor fowl.

by Anonymous

reply 12

10/07/2018

He isn't a fake Republican, he definitely isn't a Democrat. He's just too moderate for today's Republican party.

Also note it's a Republican tactic to focus on the messenger, not the message.

R12 Flake votes almost lockstep with the Republicans and uses the Maverick angle to stay in his seat. Unfortunately if you examine his voting record he is very much a Republican. He may talk a good game but actions speak louder than words. Don't buy his "I'm different" act which is designed to position himself for 2020 when he will most definitely run for President.

by Anonymous

reply 13

10/07/2018

They turned into a caricature after Trump won. I have trouble taking these people, who voted for a two digit IQ candidate, seriously.

by Anonymous

reply 14

10/07/2018

He's right that the republician party will ultimately be in a very poor position in the long run post Trump.

by Anonymous

reply 15

10/08/2018

America is in a very poor position in that the voter has only two choices: much of a muchness or lesser of two evils.

by Anonymous

reply 16

10/08/2018

[quote]Senators Flake and Sasse have run as Republicans just to get elected as the nominee of a major party, even though their beliefs don't fit with either party.

Their beliefs fit in fine with the Republican party; they just hate trump.

by Anonymous

reply 17

10/08/2018

NOW the party of situational ethics?? Lololol. They’ve ALWAYS been the party of situational ethics. ALWAYS.

Centrist Refucklicans are so obtuse and willfully blind. No matter, they are still Refucklicans, doomed to eternally being on the wrong side of history and forever left behind.

by Anonymous

reply 18

10/08/2018

Maybe [R18] but moreso nowadays much more so. The extent of it reeks.

by Anonymous

reply 19

10/08/2018

If you look at the last forty years, the notable horrors and disrespect for the rule of law are from the Republicans as an institution. From Nixon and Watergate to Reagan and Iran Contra to Newt Gingrich Tom Delay to Bush and Iraq to Trump and everything. They are enemies of democracy and with every ounce of power they have they move the country closer to totalitarianism, kleptocracy, and oligarchy.

by Anonymous

reply 20

10/08/2018

R16 you are so right. I'm in NJ and have to vote for the corrupt Menendez. I don't want to but I have no choice.

by Anonymous

reply 21

10/08/2018

Call them what you will, they have managed to pull off a fairly major coup by convincing the white working class and rural poor that a party of wealthy businessmen is on their side and portray Democrats as the party of wealthy coastal elites

One hopeful sign is that there's a kernel of truth in that last bit: Silicon Valley and Wall Street skew heavily Dem and give heavily Dem. The GOP gets most of its money from old folks in dying industries. So long term that will not do them well.

by Anonymous

reply 22

10/08/2018

They skew heavily Libertarian at the top, r22. Their policies and structures enable all of this. It's political nihilism.

by Anonymous

reply 23

10/08/2018

[quote]Their beliefs fit in fine with the Republican party; they just hate trump

just not enough to vote against him,

the delusion of Dems that rethughs will ever do the right thing is dismaying

by Anonymous

reply 24

10/08/2018

Fuck Menendez R21-- I mean definitely vote for him, but what a selfish asshole.

The party now has to spend millions in NYC and Philadephia markets to make sure he gets elected, while one of the many solid younger NJ Democrats would have been a shoo-in for Senator.

And what do we get out of it--someone the GOP can mock and taunt every time he opens his mouth because, to your point, he is one corrupt SOB.

by Anonymous

reply 25

10/08/2018

[quote]while one of the many solid younger NJ Democrats would have been a shoo-in for Senator.

exactly, except for the fact that they would have had to actually run in a primary against him and get more votes.

by Anonymous

reply 26

10/08/2018

R22, they'll claim to believe ANYTHING as long as they can have a known racist in power.

by Anonymous

reply 27

10/08/2018

It's sickening isn't it [R27]

by Anonymous

reply 28

10/09/2018

[quote] I'm in NJ and have to vote for the corrupt Menendez

Speaking of situational ethics.

by Anonymous

reply 29

10/09/2018

How nice to finally obtain a firm grasp of the obvious.

by Anonymous

reply 30

10/09/2018

Fuck Tom and his op-ed. He is still apart of the problem. He and many other republicans sat quietly for decades while the republican party was going in the wrong direction.

The racism, bigotry, xenophobia, treatment of minorities and women etc etc. Republicans think speaking out against any of these issues is going against the party line. And is being politically correct, instead of shutting down what was morally wrong and corrupt about the party.

The republican party has always had shades of racism to it. Going back decades. But trump showed up and really turned the volume up and revealed it to be what we all knew it to be anyway. And all this time he stayed his ads right in the GOP. So fuck him.

He should've left the moment trump became the nominee. I'm my opinion he has zero credibility.

by Anonymous

reply 31

10/12/2018

I love these clueless fucks sniveling, "This is NOT my Republican party!". Yes it is, dummy- you just finally got a clue.

by Anonymous

reply 32

10/12/2018

Trump supporters are all racist, if you abhor racism, you won't be a trump supporter.

by Anonymous

reply 33

10/12/2018

I agree, Susan Collins is just disgusting...how can any woman vote for her, or vote for any Republican woman who voted for Kavanaugh.

It was just a disgusting show of ignorance that Collins sided with the obvious liar, Kavanaugh.

by Anonymous

reply 34

10/12/2018

I wish more people would realize that even though they are Republicans the conservative establisment doesn't give a shit about them. They all support the Republican Party because they believe that it will put money directly into their wallets and make them feel all big and superior, but with shit like Trump's tariffs they (finally?) see themselves as the exposable pawns they are. Unless you are part of the 1% the Republican Party isn't doing you any favors.

by Anonymous

reply 35

10/12/2018

My apologies: the conservative establishment ... see themselves as the disposable pawns they are.

by Anonymous

reply 36

10/12/2018

Totally agree, R32.

From the Nichols op-ed: "I will vote for Democrats and Republicans whom I think are decent and well-meaning people"

Oh dear.

by Anonymous

reply 37

10/12/2018

One of the most confusing things in my lifetime was seeing neocons allign with liberals based on aggressive foreign policy, even when honest liberals rightly attacked George W. Bush and the neocon agenda of bombing the entire middle east.

by Anonymous

reply 38

10/12/2018

The Atlantic? Why not publish the article where some Republicans will read it?

by Anonymous

reply 39

10/12/2018

[R39] it could well get read by plenty of Republicans via it being shared on social media.

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